The wolf and the seven lambsIn the forest of Dandakaranya lived a goat and its seven lambs. The seven lambs were too small to go in search of food. So daily the goat used to go in search of food. It used to bring food and feed its lambs. Daily it will tell the lambs, “There is a bad wolf in the near by forest. When I am away it will come and eat all of you. So do not open the door to any body. The wolf has a rough voice and has a hairy tail. One day when the goat had gone food hunting, the wolf found out about the lambs. It came and knocked at their door. The lambs asked, “Who are you?” The wolf told in a gruff voice, “ I am your mother.” The lambs recognized the wolf’s voice and shouted, “No, you are the wolf. You have gruff voice.” Next day the wolf swallowed lot of butter before coming to the house of the lambs. And told in a soft voice, “I am your mother, open the door.” The lambs wanted the wolf to show its tail. The wolf did and they shouted, “You are the wolf, your tail is hairy.” The next day, the wolf swallowed lot of butter and also tied silken cloth over its tail. It again knocked at the door of the lambs, and said softly, “I am your mother.” The lambs wanted to see its tail. When they found it was soft, they opened the door. But one of the lambs which was taking bath was closed in the bathroom. The wolf swallowed all the six lambs, went to a near by shade and started sleeping. The goat returned home to find only one lamb. Hearing the story from the lamb, they both went in search of the wolf. To their surprise they found it was sleeping. Not only that they found that some things were jumping in the wolf’s stomach. They slowly cut a small hole and could rescue all the six lambs. Whenever one lamb was taken out, they used to put a stone inside so that the wolf will not wake up. After all lambs were rescued, they also stitched the stomach of the wolf. After some time, the wolf woke up and went to drink water in the near by tank. It was not having proper balance, as its stomach was heavy with stones. Ultimately it fell in the tank and died .The goat and lambs lived happily in the forest, after that. |